Dana – Part PDA, Part Laptop For Writers & Students

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B>What exactly, is Dana?

Imagine a device that is smaller, lighter, and cheaper than a laptop, runs 25 hours on a single charge or an additional 35 hours on a set of 3 AA batteries, has a full size keyboard and a wide backlit screen for easy text input or eBook reading, includes typical PDA functions including calendar and date book, to-do lists and the ubiquitous address book. This device also includes a very usable word processor, and can run several thousand other applications; and what if this device were aimed at schools as a rough and ready alternative to the laptop, a device that may also find a life outside of the classroom? If you are thinking to yourself, “Hey! That sounds an awful lot like Appleis once great eMate,” you would not be too far off. Dana, a laptop surrogate from AlphaSmart, shares many of the features of Appleis ill-fated classroom computer, but the two systems take different approaches to the same problem: to provide an inexpensive, rugged, and useful alternative to laptops.

Looking back

AlphaSmartis first product — the AlphaSmart Pro, a portable keyboard with memory enough to store 8 pages of text (64k or RAM) and a small LCD screen — was introduced in 1993, four years before Apple came up with the eMate. The AlphaSmart Pro, as well as every successive iteration of AlphaSmart devices, was and is Mac compatible, able to sync data while connected to your computer using AlphaSmartis own OS, and thatis where the Dana is different; AlphaSmart chose to use Palm OS Version 4.1, gaining access to thousands of Palm compatible applications and making it able to sync data just like any other Palm device in the process. The company wisely ported their fine AlphaWord word processor to Palm OS, gave the Dana a screen nearly 3x as large as the ones on the AlphaSmart 3000 and endowed the Dana with more ports and expansion options.

Targets

AlphaSmart sees a need for Dana, a device that can fill the niche between laptop and PDA. Glenn Weyhausen, Senior Director of Marketing for AlphaSmart told TMO: “The Dana is targeting K-12, as well as higher education, including researchers doing field work.? Outside of education, AlphaSmart has?been?seeing quite a bit of interest among companies and institutions that have large field forces.? For example, a company that has a large number of insurance adjusters working outside the office on a daily basis, would rather spend US$399 for a Dana unit than the price of a laptop.? Similarly, the Dana is suitable for budget-constrained organizations such as state and county social services groups who have people working outside the office all day.”

So, can Dana fulfill the promise of truly being a viable alternative to a laptop for the every Joe or Jill, or is Dana a talented bit player on the portable computing stage? Press on, intrepid readers, and see.